The Harrisburg High School girls' basketball team suffered their first loss of the season Tuesday night, falling on the road at Herrin 48-40.

The Bulldogs were down by just three with four minutes to play when Ashley Ferrell missed a pair of free throws. On the ensuing possession, Herrin came away with a bucket, pushing the lead to five.

Harrisburg head coach Jake Stewart, who's club shot 4-of-17 from behind the arc in the game, said that while missed shots are going to happen, his team has to have the mindset to put it behind them and defend.

We are a good shooting team but have to realize some nights they may not go," Stewart said. "Thats when we have to get tough and get that stop and the rebound." Harrisburg gave up 15 offensive rebounds on the night which contributed to alot of Tiger stick backs.

Herrin started a line that included 6-foot-1 forward Abby Horn and didn't get much smaller, starting a 5-10, 5-9 and 5-8 combo.

"We played a good first half, but we didn't rebound the ball at all," Stewart added. "Our overall defense was good but we just didn't get a body on a much more bigger Herrin team. Through all the bad shooting and lack of rebounding we stayed in the game. We will learn from this and getting ready for a very good Massac team on Thursday."

Lindsey Murray led the Bulldogs with 16 points, while Ferrell finished with 10.

Hanna Jones chipped in with six, while Devan Jones finished with four. Malayna Douglas and Shelby Boer each had two points for Harrisburg.

The Harrisburg junior varsity team improved to 4-0 with a 32-27 win over Herrin with Kelsey Hobbs leading the way with 12 points.

Alexa Burtis added eight points, while Hayley Thompson scored six points. Hannah Walker finished with four, while Brittany Reynolds tacked on three points and Taylor McDaniel had a free throw.